I wanted to follow up with my comment from
this post about my decision to use a metal clasp because of a recent event. I'll detail what happened first. Last month someone who will remain anonymous purchased this bracelet from me.
She was worried that the clasp would come undone. Honestly this clasp design was not my best, especially with the small button, and I don't use it anymore. I was happy to redo it for her. I took out the existing clasp and put in a larger button and a single beaded loop.
She wanted the loop to fit tightly around the button. Typically that's my goal anyway so I did my best to keep it tight. When she got the bracelet, she still thought it could be a little tighter. Honestly I've never had this complaint before. Normally when people try on my bracelets at shows, they get frustrated when they can't put the bracelets on themselves easily or if the loops seem tight. So I try to make sure that the buttons can slip on fairly easily.
The customer still loved the look of the bracelet and wanted to wear it right away. She was going to a family get together at a lake the coming weekend. She wore the bracelet, which was fine, except that she didn't take it off when she went into the lake. The bracelet slipped off and is now sitting at the bottom of a lake. She told me this little story when she got back from the get together. Some of her family was sticking around for another week so she thought one of her nieces or nephews might recover the bracelet from the bottom of the lake. I don't know if that ever happened.
She suggested that the "toggle clasp might be better if I order another with a smaller loop that really fits closed tight" and included a couple links for a couple of my items with "better" clasps. I patiently explained that if she might be better off with a metal clasp and gave her links for the few beadwoven pieces I have with metal clasps. That was almost a month ago, and I haven't heard anything since. Her final convo didn't seem too upset, but as I said, I haven't heard anything. She also took all of my hearted items off of her favorites.
This entire situation upset me for several reasons.
1) This is someone who has been following my shop for over 2 years. We traded once a couple years ago. She sent me some of her Christmas cards and a bunch of thank you notes for my shop in exchange for a couple of my bracelets. Honestly the cards weren't very impressive. The pieces I sent her were pretty basic so I wasn't upset. All of the cards were plenty functional. However, I wasn't planning to trade with her again. Since the trade, she's been sending me convos every 4 months or so, looking for trading deals on items, normally expensive ones that I've already marked down for sales. I've sent her several coupon codes over the past year, none of which she even used for this purchase. I was really hoping that this purchase that she finally made would win her over as a customer. Clearly that didn't happen.
2) I want my customers to be happy with their items. I've had a couple pieces in the past that have required multiple reworkings. It's a little tiresome, but in the end, if it will make someone happy, I don't mind. I certainly could have reworked this clasp a second time. That would have been much less irritating that knowing that one of my pieces of jewelry is sitting at the bottom of a lake.
3) I think that it's terribly sad that craftsmen/craftswomen have to constantly preach about taking care of handmade items. In one of my final convos with this customer, as nicely as possible, I mentioned something about how in the future, she shouldn't wear her handmade bracelets when she goes swimming . Maybe this is what upset her, but I couldn't let that go without saying something. Even my most basic $10-$15 beadwoven pieces take a minimum of 1-2 hours. Anything that is $20 or more takes at least 2-3 hours. Yes, many of them are fun pieces of jewelry, not tiaras made of platinum and diamonds, but they should be cared for appropriately. Why you would even think of wearing a piece of handmade jewelry of any type anywhere near a lake that you would be swimming in is beyond me.
A while back, the Etsy Beadweavers group put together a letter about care for beadwoven jewelry. I won't post it here because this post is long enough as it is. If you do any handmade crafting, I'm sure that you have a pretty good idea what is in it. The guidelines apply for most handmade work.
I've never felt the need to include it with my purchases because I don't create anything that is half as complex as what many EBW members create on a regular basis. However, maybe I should. That's about the best thing that I can take from this experience because I'm not sure what else I should/could have done here. By the time the customer told me that she thought the clasp was still a little loose and that she'd worn it in the lake, it was too late to offer to rework the clasp as the bracelet was already gone.
I'm certainly not going to stop using button clasps. I have used different clasps over the years and found that a couple methods work better than others so those are what I primarily use now. A button with a single loop is one of them. If the button is 1/2" or larger and the bracelet fits well, it should hold just fine. However, I may start using metal clasps more often.
Any thoughts on any of the topics/issued that I covered in this post are welcome.
